The vision of the Midd-West School District can be summarized as "a thorough education, done properly with a purpose."

Our vision includes...

• a vertically and horizontally aligned curriculum that is appropriate, rigorous and relevant for each student.
• use of teaching strategies based on "what works"/ research.
• a seamless system of assessment used by teachers to design instruction.
• highly qualified teachers who focus on personal professional development to increase student achievement.
• highly qualified leaders who are future focused, proactive and consistent.
• a high level of stakeholder involvement and support.
• safe, modern and well maintained facilities with appropriate resources for students to grow academically and socially in relation to the global community.
• cutting-edge technology used to advance educational goals.

The specifics of our technology configuration including hardware and software uses is broken down by level below:

HIGH SCHOOL 

    At the high school level we have a wide-range of hardware and software available for teachers and students.  With our designation as a “Classrooms for the Future” school in 2006, our renovation project in 2009 and 2010, the amount of available technology in our high school has increased.  Every classroom has an electronic whiteboard, projector, and teacher laptop.  There are 673 total computers across all content area teachers and/or computer labs for 53 teachers and 658 students.  Our software at the high school level includes a range of programs that support all content area teachers' instructional needs.

    Technical support at the high school is strong.  We increased our technology staff in 2009 to include the addition of a full-time technician.  This person spends the majority of his time supporting needs at the high school.  In addition, for the past several years, through CFF and the support of the district, the high school was afforded the luxury of an instructional technology specialist. Until the 2010/2011 school year this person spent 100% of her time at the high school.  Due to recent budget cuts, the position was cut to a half-time support position that is divided across all schools throughout the district. 

MIDDLE SCHOOL    

    Our district includes two middle schools, West Snyder Middle School and Middleburg Middle School.  The available technology in these buildings is far fewer than that of the high school.  There are three electronic whiteboards at each building with a limited number of shared projectors at each school.  These projectors are signed out and shared between most of the classroom teachers.  West Snyder Middle School has two stationary labs open for lab and/or class use.  Middleburg Middle School has two mobile labs and two stationary labs open for lab and/or class use.            

    Both middle schools have one Network Administrator stationed in each building as a primary office.  The Network Administrators work district wide but spend the majority of their time in their respective buildings in which they can assist with technical problems. 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

    Our elementary school configuration includes four separate buildings: Middleburg Elementary, Perry-West Perry Elementary, West Beaver Elementary, and West Snyder Middle School.  West Snyder Middle School, technology available as mentioned above, currently houses grades four and five, which the district still considers an elementary grade. 

    Our elementary schools have a small number of electronic whiteboards available.  At Perry-West Perry there are four whiteboards installed in kindergarten, second, third, and fourth grade classes.  Other classes are permitted to share classrooms in order to have access to this technology when necessary.  At West Beaver Elementary School there are five whiteboards installed in kindergarten, first, second and third grade classes.  Other classes are permitted to share classrooms in order to have access to this technology when necessary.  At Middleburg Elementary there are currently seven whiteboards available across all K - 5 classrooms.  This school is also currently undergoing a major renovation project which includes the addition of one electronic whiteboard and projector per classroom.

    All elementary schools have additional projectors per building available for teachers to share.  Each school includes one stationary computer lab and full wireless capability.  Each teacher has his/her own laptop for academic administrative work. 

    Software at our elementary schools includes the Accelerated Reader program and numerous online programs to support reading and mathematics.  Microsoft applications are available for student and teacher use.  Programs to support data teaming are available.  Through interviews with teachers, it was learned that the desires of the teachers are much different from classroom to classroom.  Currently each classroom computer uses Star and Early Star which are reading assessment tools.  Accelerated Reader, a reading management tool, is also used heavily at the elementary level.  In addition to these software titles, the Internet is used heavily for PSSA prep and other instruction.  The continued desire for games as “resource centers” has been satisfied by teacher created PowerPoints and Internet use.  As a district, we still do not have a strong understanding of how often student computers are used at the elementary level and specifically the nature of their use.  Specific answers to these questions would help yield better use of our resources.

ADMINISTRATIVE 

          Many software programs are in place to keep the Midd-West School District running effectively.  The district’s administrative software meets the needs of the district on both a financial side as well as the child accounting side and has kept up with the increasing demands of the state.  A web-based teacher grade book and attendance program allows for parent access, which has increased communication greatly.  Our district web page has also allowed for communication between employees, students, parents, and community members.  District e-mail, which employees have become very dependent upon, has also helped in improving communication.  Downtime of the network is minimal which is essential for the day to day business of the district.

Professional Development

We recognize the need to prepare students to be thinkers, innovators, communicators and hard workers.  For this reason, we believe all teachers, administrators and support staff in the Midd-West School District need opportunities to practice and enhance their knowledge, use and effectiveness in using technology so that we can help students be successful.  Our desire for professional development is to prepare our staff to achieve proficiency in using current technologies to bring about student success, as well as fostering the student and teacher competencies to be developed.  Achieving proficiency may be accomplished using the following methods:

1. Summer Institute — Optional trainings are provided for all staff members during summer break days.  These trainings are provided by current staff members.  Attendees will receive Act 48 hours for their participation in each training.
2. In-Service Days — Act 80 days may be used to provide technology trainings by in-house staff and/or outside providers such as the Intermediate Unit or Specialized Trainers and/or speakers.
3. Quarterly Trainings — All staff has the option to attend a training session held in each school building one hour before or after school.  These sessions are provided by the ITS and cover the specifics for how to operate software and/or hardware.
4. Conferences and/or Workshop — Staff will have the opportunity to attend conferences and workshops relating to technologies that will make them more effective in their current position.  This method of professional development would include attendance to PETE&C, One-to-One Computing Conference, Vendor trainings, etc. This option for professional development will be limited for each event.
5. One-to-One Mentoring — Teachers will have individual access to the ITS, Technology Coach, and/or “Power” teacher as needed for the purpose of planning and implementing lessons that use new technologies in order to advance student learning with higher levels of thinking and 21^st Century skills.  Staff and administration will have access to the ITS for assistance in using current and new technologies necessary for their position.
6. Online Course Work — Staff will have the opportunity to take free online courses relating to effective technology uses for their current position.  Courses will be sponsored by PDE; staff will receive Act 48 hours or continuing credits for their work.
7. Small Learning Communities — Opportunities will be provided for staff in similar positions across the district to meet and share the ways they are using the technology to accomplish their tasks in the most efficient manner.  This option for professional development will be accomplished through peers teaching peers, using a release time model, and/or meeting times before and after school.
8. Professional Resource Repository — Teachers will be encouraged to continue posting lesson ideas and resources in a shared location so that teachers may increase their collaboration and ideas with other teachers.  We will try to enhance our current procedures through the development of a more centralized database.  This station will be managed by the ITS, Technology Coach and/or “Power” teacher to ensure that high quality lessons are posted as examples and ideas.

The director of curriculum, instruction and technology and building principals will be responsible for monitoring activities related to the implementation of the technology plan.  Technology committee leaders will also work to monitor activities in order to provide feedback about current progress and needs.

The director of curriculum, instruction and technology will be responsible for evaluating the impact of technology goals, strategies, and activities.  Reports will be distributed to administrators and the core technology planning committee.  In addition, yearly progress reports and presentations will be presented to the school board during public board meetings so that the status of the plan is effectively communicated to all parties.

School-level professional development topics will be decided by a professional development committee that first survey the faculty requesting topics of high interest based on teacher and student needs.  The director of curriculum, instruction and technology, along with the technology team and multiple teachers, will plan and implement technology training sessions during district-planned professional development days, as well as both before and after school.

Administrators and supervisors will carry out classroom observations to monitor classroom progress and technology integration.  Walk-throughs will also be conducted regularly.  

The director of curriculum, instruction and technology, the superintendent, and the building level administrators, the network administrators, and the technology support personnel will be responsible for evaluating the impact of the technology goals, strategies, and activities.  Yearly evaluations will be conducted to determine needs based on curriculum and instruction.  Reports will be distributed to faculty, administrators, and the technology committee.  Board presentations will be presented to further communicate the plan's progress to the public.

Data will be gathered by continuing to perform yearly surveys about student, teacher, and administrator technology knowledge.  Teacher and administrator technology skill levels will be used as a means of continuing professional development opportunities.  For students, teachers will assess technology skills within the classroom during regular skills assessments.

Assessment data will be gathered by the district through standardized testing procedures.  Informed decisions about remediation strategies will be made according to the percentages of students who are in need of additional technology support to help them achieve proficiency within their subject matter.  Data will be managed through a system which will allow educators to make informed and individualized decisions about student learning.  The building principals, director of curriculum, instruction and technology and the superintendent will analyze the data.